Vol. 34 Issue 3/4

Mahfouz Al-Bachir and Ibrahim Othman
Food irradiation program in Syria has been going on since 1985. The major goal of this program is to investigate the effect of ionizing irradiation on improving storability and insuring safety and preserving the quality of food. The food irradiation research focuses on sprout inhibition of onions and tubers, insect disinfestations of seeds and nuts, shelf life extension of prepared meal of both plant and animal food for human nutrition, and decontamination of spices and medical herbs. The results of the food irradiation program in Syria indicate that food irradiation is feasible for sprout inhibition, shelf life extension, disinfestations, and decontamination of food products. Regulations for food irradiation in Syria were put in place in 1986 with a maximum allowable dose of 10 kGy. Syrian Atomic Energy Commission (SAEC) has a multipurpose pilot scale facility (ROBO, Russia) 60Co, and linear electron accelerator facility (D-EPS-T30-30-002V, VIVARAD, France), which are used for pilot and semi- commercial irradiation of food, and about 2000 metric tons of food are irradiated yearly.

Lekaa Hussain Khdaim and Abbas abed-Ali Draea
Investigation study has been carried out to find a new geometry optimization structure of octahedral platinum complex (diaminobis ((hydroxyl carbamoyl) Oxy) platinum(IV) chloride) (DHOP) by using density functional theory (DFT) method /B3LYP/Lanl2DZ basis set that’s implemented into Gaussian 09 program. Structural and energetic properties have been investigated, such as total energy, ΔG, ΔH, ΔS, EHOMO, ELUMO, Egap and the rate constant for all chemical reaction. This study shows that the energy gap value of DHOP complex is high with low value of ZPE and positive imaginary frequency, this refers to higher stability of Platinum complex formation.

Anwarul Amin, Asadujjaman, Belal Hossain, Tawheed Hasan, Fuad Hassan and Muhammad Tanvir Hossain Chowdhury
The study was conducted to know the crab fattening in pen system and to evaluate the changes of proximate composition of mud crab due to fattening. After fattening, proximate composition was analyzed to assess the changes of nutritional value. The average survival rates of male and female crab were 64.722 ± 1.204% and 65.889 ± 0.701% respectively. The mean specific growth rate (SGR) was 1.245 ± 0.334% (male) and 0.976 ± 0.152% (female). The average value of FCR was 5.833 ± 0.119 and production rate was 0.4116 ± 0.095 kg/m2. Due to fattening, the moisture content of mud crab was decreased from 77.747 ± 0.705 to 75.551 ± 1.537% in male and from 75.030 ± 0.370 to 74.332 ± 0.202% in female. The mean crude protein content of the male mud crab (Scylla serrata) with shell was decreased but in case of female it was increased. The mean crude lipid content of mud crab was increased from 0.420 ± 0.110 % to 1.113 ± 0.102% and 1.093 ± 0.110 to 2.208 ± 0.204% respectively both of male and female. During fattening period the mean ash content was also increased in male and female. In addition the study showed that the mean crude fibre content also increased from 1.162 ± 0.089 to 1.613 ± 0.580% and 1.556 ± 0.367 to 1.884 ± 0.020% respectively in male and female. Furthermore nitrogen free extract content increased from 0.838 ± 0.064 to 0.982 ± 0.238% in male and from 1.251 ± 0.421 to 1.682 ± 0.640% in female. It was observed that all the nutritional compositions were changed due to fattening.

Sambhu Chithambaran, Mamdouh Al Harbi, Mohammad Broom, Khalid Khobrani, Osama Ahmad, Hazem Al Fattani, Nasser K Ayaril and Abdulmohsen Sofyani
Middle East and North African (MENA) region are known for high levels of solar UV radiation. A study was conducted to assess the effect of UV radiation on phytoplankton chlorophyll, β-carotene and growth of pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei in HDPE liner culture ponds for 98 days. The experiment is based on control ponds (direct sunlight) and treatment ponds (Green house) using intensive shrimp culture method. Shrimp juveniles (SPF) at the rate of 100/m2 were stocked in each pond and fed with a standard fishmeal based supplementary pellet feed having 35% protein in diet. Physico-chemical parameters of pond water, UV-B radiation, Chlorophyll-a, shrimp growth and β-carotene in meat were monitored during the study period. Significant reduction (p<0.01) in UV-B radiation was found in treatment ponds in comparison with control ponds at an average reduction of 23.2% for surface water due to filtration. Chlorophyll-a in phytoplankton and β- carotene in shrimp were found to be increased in treatment ponds due to low UV-B radiation. However, shrimp growth was not affected significantly (P>0.01) by UV-B radiation in culture ponds.

Abdirashid Elmi, Husam Alomirah and Sameer Al-Zenki
Globally, food security faces unrelenting challenges, including growing population expected to reach 10 billion toward the end of 21st century, shifting diet preferences, diminishing natural resources and a changing planetary climate. This challenge is most acute in arid, hot Arabian Gulf region. Presently, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are comfortably food secure, almost entirely through food importation, with all the risks associated with total dependency on food import. Risks related to heavy reliance on food import include i) disturbance to global supplies routes, ii) food price volatility in global markets like 2007-2008, and iii) the unpredicted impact of climate change on global food supplies. To balance risks of food import, two measures seem to be effective: 1) stable grain stock and 2) a boost in domestic production. There are gaps in our knowledge regarding the local production capacity and how much contribution can be expected under prevailing climatic and environmental conditions. The primary objective of this paper is to identify and analyze innovative, resource-conserving, practical and sustainable ways to improve food production under local climatic conditions. In this framework, we considered agro-ecosystem agriculture (AEA) as a farming system that balances production and environmental goals and, most importantly, minimizes the trade-off between the two. We conclude that enhancing local food production would require capital investment in greenhouse structures, irrigation technology, and skilled labor.

Hamid Mohammed Al-Gabr, Amin Alwaseai, Zaineb Alsabahey, Yusra Alsabahey, Adnan Wasel, Eiman Alrmah, Saoud Hansh, Malak Alhmiary, Sadeg Alyobui and Alwi Babki
Drinking water sources contain different kinds of biological pollutants, such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Furthermore, some of biological pollutants may cause health problems. Albayda governorate has witnessed many diseases due to using water from open wells. As a result, the purpose of this report is to address the occurrence and frequency of fungi in drinking water in Albayda governorate, Yemen during the winter and summer seasons. 90 samples drinking water from 5 different sites were collected for isolation and identification of fungi. The results indicate that the most genera were dominant ( Aspergillus spp., Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. ). In addition, some genera were observed in low frequency as Exophiala sp., pythium, Phialophora sp, Bipolaris sp, Coccidioides sp. Moreover, the results indicate that the most frequency of waterborne diseases in this governorate were Diarrhea, Illnesses of digestive system, and diseases of urology. Other diseases were also seen in low frequency, and the most notable category was over the category of susceptible age (15-45).